The Blue Jays’ all-in approach at last July’s trade deadline certainly paid off – with the likes of Shane Bieber, Louis Varland, and Seranthony Dominguez playing pivotal roles in the team’s run to the World Series. Of course, acquiring veteran players comes at a cost. Several promising players were dealt in those moves, and each could wind up becoming solid big leaguers down the road.

Regardless of how these prospects turn out, the Blue Jays would undoubtedly make those moves again, given that they helped them reach the World Series. Having said that, let’s take a look at which player the Blue Jays may end up regretting most.

The Blue Jays parted with four significant prospects at the deadline – Alan Roden, Kendry Rojas, Juaron Watts-Brown and Khal Stephen. Each player profiles as a big leaguer at some point or another, with the ceiling being the separator.

Roden is surely the most recognizable name out of that quartet after he made the opening day roster and played 43 underwhelming games with the club last year (.589 OPS).

Over the last couple of years, he’s been a player who has really excelled in the upper minors, but hasn’t yet put it together at the highest level. The major league struggles continued after his trade to Minnesota, as well as dealing with a thumb injury that cut his season short, but there’s a good chance that the 25-year-old carves out a solid big league career, perhaps with a similar offensive profile to another former Blue Jay in Spencer Horwitz. The chance of him developing into a star is probably low, making this a move the Jays likely won’t regret.

Rojas dealt with injuries to start 2025, but made his Double-A debut on July 1st for New Hampshire.

Solid numbers pushed him up to Triple-A, where he made just one start before being dealt to Minnesota alongside Roden and reporting to Triple-A St Paul. The Cuban left-hander really struggled across eight starts, producing a 6.59 ERA and 2.19 WHIP. Still just 22 years old, Rojas is still on track to reach the big leagues within the next year or two, and has the size and stuff to potentially develop into a #2 or #3 starter at the highest level. Having said that, the injuries have prevented him from putting together a complete season – 84.0 innings are his career high, set in 2023 – and he will need a stretch of success in Triple-A to prove worthy of a call-up next year, especially as a starter.

Watts-Brown put it all together in 2025, dominating hitters in High-A to start the season before working his way up to Double-A.

At the time of the trade to Baltimore as the lone return in the Dominguez deal, his New Hampshire Fisher Cats were midway through a series with the Orioles’ affiliate, the Chesapeake Baysox. This led to the former Oklahoma State Cowboy toeing the slab against his old team in his first start in Baltimore’s organization. The overall numbers were solid across the board in 2025, managing a 3.62 ERA and 1.12 WHIP across 124 1/3 innings, including an 11.4 K/9 mark. His best pitch is his slider, which is a big league strikeout pitch right now. He pairs it with a low-to-mid 90s heater and curveball, which generates a lot of swing and miss as well. Walks were an issue in 2024 (5.2 BB/9), but he lowered that mark to 3.6 this past season.

If he can continue to attack the strike zone, the wiry right-hander will be on a big league mound before too long.

Stephen was dealt one-for-one for Bieber at the deadline, a testament to the kind of season the former Jays prospect was having in 2025.

Taken one round after Trey Yesavage in the 2024 draft, Stephen started the year in Dunedin before getting the call-up to High-A Vancouver alongside Yesavage and top prospect Gage Stanifer in May. He had an epic nine-start run with the C’s, producing a 1.49 ERA and 0.84 WHIP, leading to his call-up to New Hampshire. An injury forced him to miss some time, leading to just four appearances with Cleveland’s Double-A affiliate post-trade.

Stephen has the highest floor of anybody on this list. He likely ends up as a major league starting pitcher, but his ceiling is still to be determined. He’s not typically a guy who blows batters away, as his strikeout rate declined as he moved up the ladder last year. This may prevent him from ever being a top-of-the-rotation starter, but it seems likely to settle in as a #3 type.

Among traded prospects, it’s probably safe to say that Stephen is the player who is most likely to become the most successful big leaguer.

However, if each of these players reaches their ceilings, I believe that Rojas has the best chance at developing into an ace. There is a lot more projection involved with the left-hander’s game due to his injuries and inexperience, but his size, handedness, and three-pitch mix offer the most potential. Considering he was traded – alongside Roden – for a relief pitcher, there’s a good chance that the Blue Jays would regret parting with him if he realizes that potential.